CIFRI Awards
World Rivers Day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of September every year to increase public awareness about rivers and to encourage their conservation. The theme of World Rivers Day was “the importance of rivers for biodiversity”. ICAR - Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute celebrated ‘World Rivers Day’ on 25 September 2022 at three different places namely Karela Bagh ghat, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh & Sonia Vihar, Delhi on the bank of river Yamuna and Kodalbasti, Subhasini area on the bank of river Torsha in Jaldapara National Park Complex, West Bengal.
Dr. Dharam Nath Jha, Scientist In-Charge, Prayagraj Centre of ICAR-CIFRI stressed that rivers are a gift of nature in which biodiversity is nurtured and conserved, so there should be a continuous effort to maintain it, for this, the use of pesticides and plastics in the catchment areas of rivers should be reduced. He called upon the general public to do not allow waste organic and inorganic waste to flow into rivers, reduce unnecessary water consumption for agricultural, industrial and domestic uses, stop erosion of rivers by doing afforestation, etc.
Shri Nandlal Nishad Nanda, Councilor of Karela Baghward of Prayagraj Municipal Corporation requested the people to pay attention to water and fish conservation in rivers. He stressed on the need to conserve juvenile fish and use of proper mesh size net.
Shri Rajesh Sharma, representative of National Mission of Clean Ganga (Namami Gange), Dr. Absar Alam, Dr. Venkatesh Ramarao Thakur, Scientists also interacted with the people and informed about the importance of biodiversity and the measures to be taken. On this occasion more than 100 persons including fishermen, businessmen, bathers and students residing on the banks of the river participated and expressed their views. Shri Rajesh Sharma, representative of Namami Gange, administered the pledge to keep the rivers clean to all the participants.
At Kodalbasti and Subhasini on the bank of river Torsha in Jaldapara National Park Complex, West Bengal, Local people were enlightened about different aspects of river conservation like less / non-use of pesticides in tea gardens on the river bank, avoiding throwing plastic and other garbage into river, afforestation on river bank to stop river bank erosion, release of sufficient water from dams / barrages, less withdrawal of water from rivers for agriculture / industrial and other purposes, keeping riverine biodiversity sustainable by use of scientific fishing gears, avoiding destructive fishing methods like electrofishing or fishing with poisons are few topics which were discussed during the program. Around forty people, including fishers participated in the programs.
